Biographies

The Mormon Church is presently and desperately trying to do a makeover on a monster of its own making: namely, official, historical Mormon Church racism, perpetrated from the Church's very beginnings in the name of its concocted God and at the expense of basic human dignity.

As a youth and a young adult I spent time defending the Church position on the Priesthood Ban. That was what we were taught through God's prophets. To get a temple recommend you had to answer the question do you sustain the current profit. "Well yes!" There was no question in any body's mind this was the will of God.

Sadly, the Utah Mormon Church, well into the 20th century, has an historical track record of squalid, bigoted and anti-civil rights attitudes, teachings and practices which targeted African-Americans under its supposed "control."

The recent article on the reversal of the ban of those "cursed with dark skin" (black) makes me literally shake.

Five years ago we adopted a little girl with dark skin. The adoption agency (not LDS Social Services) contacted us, letting us know that The Ensign was looking for a family to model for an article on adoption they were printing and that they had given them our number.

It is important to keep in mind historically-contexualized facts when Mormon Church apologists who--when confronted with the ugly realities of racist LDS Church doctrine, policy and practice--attempt to shrug off this foundational Mormon Church behavioral problem as being nothing more than the understandable foibles of the Mormon Church's imperfect human "prophets."

The Mormon Church, on its official website, makes a grossly dishonest claim that the long-established official position of the Mormon Church banning Blacks from holding the priesthood was a policy and not a doctrine. In an essay entitled, “Race and the Priesthood,” the Mormon Church makes the following deliberately disingenuous and factually disprovable assertion:

When my parents died, I (as the oldest child) inherited a lot of things that they had inherited from their parents. One item was my grandfather's mission journal, which recorded his experiences as a Mormon missionary in England, 1907-1908. I had never read it, but when my TBM [Mormon] brother found out that I had it, and wanted me to photocopy it for him, I decided to read it.

I need to post the story, I love telling it. I wonder if any of my former mission are now exmormon and lurking on this site...1994-1996 Kobe Japan anyone? I wonder if they remember the shenanigans that were going on then.

I had my name removed from the record of the church several months ago. Although my DW [dear wife] has not done the same, she no longer believes nor attends. She did ask me the other day, why do I still think and read and write about the Church now that I have left it. To be honest, I wasn't sure and that has started some introspection for me.

Got a call from my mom the other day telling me to repent for drinking. She thinks I'm an alcoholic even though I only drink around once every two weeks, and when I drink it's not that much. She started crying and telling me that she has been in severe depression for the last year and that my choices have caused her that depression.

Several years ago I got back into full fellowship after a long absence and my wife and I were eventually asked to work at the temple. I had a list of questions I thought could finally be answered. Surely, if I was to work in the temple and officiate in all that stuff I'd have to know all the details of 'that stuff.' NOT SO!

A long time ago, probably in 2001 or so, I used to come here and read. I was questioning and the things I was reading on these boards were agitating me... making me doubt more. Making me angry that people here so smugly proclaimed it was NOT the True Church. I started trolling the boards... yes, I was pretty obnoxious and I guess it was my way of dealing with the internal conflict. Sorry for that

Although Joseph Smith's co-Mormon Church president and sidekick, Oliver Cowdery, couldn't get his personal dowsing stick to function when it came to the Book of Mormon's translation junction, he was nonetheless able to locate caves in the Hill Cumorah piled high with ancient plates.

My 20 year old daughter received a letter in the mail last week from an old friend who is currently serving a mission. [My daughter came to me in tears as she felt the letter diminished their friendship and had it reduced her to just being a project.]

Message from my TBM mom on Facebook: "I heard you didn't respond to your sister when she sent you the baptism announcement for -----. She feels really bad. You should be sharing it with your boys, as this was a big part of their cousin's life."

I've been out of the church for 18 years. But my parents and 6 siblings are all very TBM [Mormon]. We keep each other at arms length- we are polite but distant with one another. My TBM sister is young (10 years younger than me), married and with 2 kids she cannot handle or afford.

I have something to say. I am an ex in Australia who served in Bishoprics and High Councils, I left 5 years ago, and it sent shock waves when my wife and I left, as we were considered "faithful and good with the youth". Recently I was asked to attend a funeral of an elderly lds lady who was a neighbour of mine in my 20's. I liked her so I went alone to the funeral